Today I wish to talk about a subject we discussed lately in one of the meditation groups.

People who walk the spiritual path, they sometimes arrive at a point where they wonder why they feel blocked. They observe that after long periods of spiritual practice, daily meditation and discipline, they sometimes still don't feel that inner peace they were looking for. They may wonder why they still experience those old human emotions. One possible reason for this is called "the habit of judgement".

In our western civilisation and culture, the habit of judging others is cultivated everywhere. But only a few people are really conscious about the many negative effects and and consequences this habit has. The habit of judging others is the main reason for emotional discord on many levels.

We can practice the most beautiful meditation techniques for hours every day, but as long as we continue to judge and criticize others, we will not find inner peace or harmony. Judgement and criticism are forms of rejection, and that is the opposite of acceptance. As long as we cultivate those forms of rejection (and gossip), we are not living in loving acceptance with people around us. This is then hindering our own inner peace.

In the Teachings of the Ascended Masters, they say to us: "Have no opinion about any other person!" And the reason for this, we understand. People who create such energies of disharmony will sooner or later have to deal with them in their own energy field.

The habit of judging and criticizing people around us is the shadow that truly sabotages every progress on the spiritual path. Judgement and criticism is the voice of the ego. And it needs a lot of discipline and self-observation to discover how many negative emotions are unconsciously created, that are based on judgements and criticism. We say we do want Divine Peace - then we must stop that habit.

We find examples for these negative emotions in all areas of daily relationships with others: somebody disappointed us, did not fulfill our expectations or made us feel bad ourselves: what is the reaction? We immediately start judging and criticizing the other person, with plenty of negative labels.

You can take a paper and write a list with the names of all people you meet in your daily life. Now when you read these names, how do you think, feel and talk about them? Are your thoughts, words and feelings totally free of any judgements about them?

The consequence: this is where we are losing track of our spiritual progress. As long as we continue to put negative labels on others, we will not be free. We first have to remove those labels we put on people around us, and learn to see their Divine Self.

The temptations for judging others are often in situations when one person has hurt us, as example in a love relationship. How fast do we then take out a box filled up with all kind of labels of criticism, proving ourselves and others how bad the other person is. This then also lowers the vibration in the energy field. These kinds of moments are exactly the points where we are sabotaging all our wonderful efforts done on the spiritual path.

We can't expect that Divine Peace and Divine Love are entering into our being, as long as we continue to project negative emotions and negative thoughts on others. As long as we see others as "not good", or "not right", or "not ok", and put negative labels on them, we are fooling ourselves and sabotaging our spiritual path. With that, there is no healing possible.

We observe that people sometimes judge and criticize others, with gossip, not only on the internet. But if they were conscious about how much they destroy and sabotage their own energy field while doing this, they would immediately stop. Because to sustain physical health, one always needs a healthy energy-field too.

And also the inner emotions and thoughts, they too create these energies. And what do you think is coming back, when one sends out those types of energies filled with criticism and judgements to another person? One can't project such discord on others and expect love and peace coming back.

There are many spiritual teachings explaining us the lesson of "non-judgement", meaning that we fully accept and respect the other person the way he/she is. But it is not enough to read and to understand that. We have to DO it and to LIVE it, in all areas of our daily lives.

We all have people in our lives who have hurt us, disappointed or betrayed us. But maybe there are people who feel the same about us, maybe we too have made mistakes. Now, if we wish them to forgive us, to no longer judge us or criticize us, we should do the same. Then, we set the intent to be more careful, more respectful and more conscious in future.

It helps us to make a conscious choice and to let totally go of ALL our judgement and criticism we have about people in our lives. To see them really as Divine Beings, beyond their outer appearances. Because only this will give freedom to them, and also freedom to us.

If we want to raise the vibration and really live in peace, then instead of judgement and criticism, we now have to choose acceptance, unconditional love and forgiveness. For these are the qualities of feelings that are going to give us inner peace, harmony and freedom.

And then, there is one special person we need to stop judging or criticizing, one who really needs our unconditional love and tender acceptance: ourselves. So often, too often, we are our own worst critic. Real self-love is free of any judgement. True Love is the absence of judgement. See yourself as the wonderful and adorable Divine Being that You truly are.